Printing and cutting die



1952 o. H. ST. LAWRENCE ,897

PRINTING AND CUTTING DIE med March 8, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

Jim/M BY QM @MM Patented Dec. 2, 1952 PRINTING AND CUTTING DIE Oliver H. St. Lawrence, Fairview, Mass, assignor to Marciene E. Whitcomb, Holyoke, Mass.

Application March 8, 1950, Serial No. 148,380v

1 Claim. (01. 101-30 My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a combination printing and dieing device and is directed more particularly to the provision of a means by which a printing operation and a die cutting operation may be performed simultaneously and to an improvement in themeans for simplifying printing and die cutting operations where the same are performed on a piece of work. 7

It is the principal object of my invention to provide a novel and improved construction of the type which permits the performance of the printing and dieing operations at one and the same time, thereby eliminating the now present objectionable inconveniences known in the art.

With the above primary object in View, it is another object of my invention to provide a construction of the above described character which is relatively simple and compact and which is not only practical in its value but also reliable in its operation and thoroughly eflicient in its use.

' Itis a still further object to provide a device which is constructed of relatively simple parts which are adapted to be readily assembled and which when once assembled are positively and securely retained in operative relationship and which cannot be readily separated from each other, either accidentally or otherwise.

The existing practice in the trade is to print a piece of work in a press in one operation and to'die out the paper or board by a cutting die in a subsequent or preceding operation. Devices heretofore known all have the common and obvious objection that to operate them involves two separate operations which causes an increase in operating, time and expense.

Accordingly, I have devised a novel means whereby these difliculties'and objections are overcome. I accomplish this by the provision of a device which obviates the need for the two separate operations by combining the same into a single operation.

'All'of the above objects I accomplish by means of such structure and relative arrangement of parts thereof, as will fully appear by a perusal of the description below and by various specific features which will be hereinafter set forth.

To the above cited and other ends and with the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages and other objects of my invention as will become more readily apparent as the description proceeds, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more particularly pointed out 2 in the claim hereunto annexed andmore fully described and referred to in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a chase and printing form with which the device of my invention is associated; and

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevational view along the line 22 of Fig. 1.

In the above mentioned drawing annexed hereto and forming a part of this specification, I have shown but one embodiment of my invention which is deemed preferable, but it is to be understood that changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Referring now to the drawing more in detail, and referring more particularly to the preferred form of my invention selected for illustrative purposes, I have shown a frame-like chase 4 of the conventional design which receives the print ing from 6 therewithin and retains the same in the desired position relative thereto by means of a plurality of shims or looks 8, a1l as is well known in the art.

In one form of printing press, there is one part which moves toward and away from another. A chase is carried by one of the parts and paper or cardboard is acted upon by the elements in the chase when the press parts come together.

The printing form 6 is provided with any desired number of openings lii'which may take any desired shape depending upon the configurationof the piece to be died out. That is to. say, in the drawings, circular openings are shown throughout the several figures for purposes of dieing out round discs of paper although it will be understood that other shapes canbe printed and died out by the means of my invention equally as well.

A backing or sopporting member I2. is also provided which is disposed beneath .themember 6 for purposesas will presently appear.

The openings ID are provided with steel cutting rules I4 of well known form which are fixed to the walls of the openings on all sides thereof by any suitable means. The uppermost cutting edges I4 of the rules are disposed above the plane of the member 6 for purposes as will shortly be observed.

Disposed within the confines of an opening in is a printing die which comprises a supporting member 22 which is made of a suitable metal, such as brass, and carries on its upper surface an electrotype 24 or other printing medium which may be secured to the member 22 by any suitable means, such as screws or the like, or by soldering.

Studs 26 are fixed to the support member 22 by screws 28 or the like. These studs depend downwardly from the member 22, and are provided with heads 39 at their lowermost extremities, all as shown in Fig. 2.

Disposed beneath the support member 22 and in planes parallel therewith are a cap member 32, a plate member 34, and a base member 35, as shown, all of which are secured together and serve to render the necessary strength to the device of my invention.

Appropriate openings are provided in the members 32, 34 and 36 to permit the studs to reciprocate therein.

The plate member 34 is preferably of some suitable metal, such as brass, so as to prevent wear of the movable parts as will presently be made clear and the aforementioned openings therethrough are of lesser dimension than the related openings in the member 32 whereby flanges 35 are formed thereat, as shown in Fig. 3.

Springs 40 surround the studs 26 and at their upper ends abut the member 22 at the underside thereof and at their lower ends abut the flanges 35 on the upper sides thereof.

The heads of the studs 25 bear against the flanges on the undersides thereof when the springs work against the members 22 and 24 to hold the same upwardly of the members 32, 34 and 36 in their normal positions above the plane of the cutting edge 14 of the rule I4.

It will be appreciated that the base member 38 is of such thickness that, when the members 22 and 24 are urged inwardly, the studs 26 extend downwardly in the openings 38 provided in the base member 36.

As shown in Fig. 2, the printing die above described may be held relative to the member 6 by means of a centrally located bolt 42. Suitable openings are provided in the members 32, 34, and 36 whereby the head 44 of the bolt 42 seats in the opening in the member 32 and extends downwardly through the members 34 and 3t and through an appropriate opening in the supporting member 12. An adjusting nut 46 engageable with the end of the bolt 40 may be located in an enlarged recess on the underside of the member l2 into which the nut 42 extends whereby the printing die may be secured to and removed from the printing form as desired.

The construction having been explained, the operation of the device is as follows: the chase and its related parts is set into its proper position in the printing press. The inking rollers are passed over the upper surface of the form so as to ink the electrotypes. With paper, cardboard or whatever is to be printed and cut, the press is then closed as the platen advances to the chase to contact the paper with the printing area and force the cutting rule through the material.

The action is such that the material on first contacting the inked electrotype is printed and the continuing movement of the press parts tobodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects mere y as being illustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description and all modifications and variations as fall within the meaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claim as therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

Apparatus for simultaneously printing. and cutting an object from sheet material comprising in combination, a horizontal backing having a printing form secured to the upper side thereof provided with an opening extending downwardly therethrough to said backing, a vertical cutting rule lining said opening having a lower edge on said backing and an upper cutting edge disposed in a plane above the upper side of the printing form, a base superposed on said backing within said rule and a plate within said rule disposed on the upper side of said base, securing means extending through said backing and base and plate securing them together, a cap on said plate having an upper side disposed in a plane below the plane of the cutting edge of the rule, said base and plate and cap provided with vertically aligned openings, a supporting member having a printing element on the upper side and arranged for up and down movements within the rule, compression springs between the supporting member and plate in the openings of the cap for yieldingly resisting downward movement of said supporting member, and elongated members having upper ends secured to said supporting member and depending therefrom through the openings in said cap and plate provided with enlarged portions at their lower ends for engaging the lower side of said plate for limiting upward movement of said supporting member.

OLIVER I-I. ST. LAWRENCE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 771,669 Schneegass Oct. 4, 1904 1,928,715 Wilson Oct. 3, 1933 2,068,649 Anderson Jan. 26, 1937 2,143,504 Altvater Jan. 10, 1939 

